Car-door fastener.



No. 693,69l. Patented Feb. I8, |902.

C. R. DOE.

CAR '000B 4"F'STENETL (Application led Jan. 11, 1901A;

(No Model.)

SWW/woz up., wAsmnsYo-c n c lmnp STATES CHARLES R. DOE, OF MOUNT PLEASANT, IOVA.

CAR-DOOR FASTENER.

SPECIFXGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 693,691, dated February 18, 1902. Application filed January 11,1901. Serial No. 42,886. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES R. DoE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mount Pleasant, in the county of Henry and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Car- Door Fastener, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a novel door fastening or lock for Yfreight-cars, and has for its object the equipment of a car with a simple and eifective locking device for the end door and arranged to be controlled from the side of the car and to be removed from possibility of actuation when the side door of the car is closed.

To the accomplishment of this object my invention consists in providing a movable locking member for the end door and actuating means for said member extended to one side of the doorway at the side of the car and provided with a handle normally retained by a pin to hold the locking member in its locked position and designed to be guarded by the side door when the latter is closed in order to prevent the unlocking of the end door until after the side door of the car has been opened by an authorized person.

The invention further consists in the construction and arrangement of parts to be described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and succinctlydelined in the appended claims.

In said drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a portion of a freight-car equipped with my device, the end door being shown retracted in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the subject-matter of Fig. 1, showing certain of the parts in elevation. Fig. 3 is a detail elevation, on an enlarged scale, showing the cooperating relation between the handle of the actuator and its pin 5 and Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view, on a somewhat-enlarged scale, of the locking device proper for the end door.

Referring to the numerals of reference employed to designate corresponding parts in the several views, 1 and 2 indicate portions of the side andend Walls of a freightcar, and 3 and 4 the side and end doors suitably mounted, as usual, to slide laterally for the purpose of permitting access to the interior of the car from the side or end thereof. As usual, `the car structure includes vertical beams or doorposts 5 at the end of the car, and the end door is preferably locked to one of them. Itherefore provide an angular slotted hasp G on the end door 4, arranged for engagement, When the door is closed, with a staple or keeper 7, projecting from one of the'pcsts 5. The hasp 6 constitutes a projection extending from the end door, and in certain of the claims, therefore, I shall dene the hasp member 6 as a projection carried by the end door and arranged for engagement with the locking-lever. Im? mediately above the staple 7 the post 5 is provided With a slot or opening 8 for the accommodation of a locking-lever 9,pivotally mounted upon an adjacent part of the car structure and provided with an angular locking end l0, designed to pass through the staple f7 for the purpose of locking the hasp 6 to a permanent part of the car structure for the purpose of preventing the opening of the end door 4.

10 indicates a Weighthung from the lever 9 and designed to throw said lever automatically to its locked position. Obviously,how ever, any preferred form of movable locking member might be substituted for the lever 9, the only essential feature of which is its capability of being moved into or out of its locking position for the purpose of effecting the locking or unlocking of the end door.

I have premised that the end-door-locking mechanism is designed for manipulation from the side of the car, and it is therefore necessary to provide mechanism arranged for manipulation at the side of a car and operatively connected with the locking-lever at the end thereof. A simple embodiment of this mechanism comprises an actuator in the form of a rock-shaft ll, journaled in suitable bearings upon the side wall of the car and extending from one of the side door-posts 12 to a point adjacent to the rear end ot' the locking-lever 9,Where it is provided with an angular end or .crank 13, having a loose pivotal connection with the adjacent end of the lever.

The specific form of this connection is not essential; but the embodiment illustrated'in the drawings comprehends the formation of'` 11 opposite the crank 13 is formed an angu- IOO l lar end constituting a handle 15.

. position, as the case may be.

l ment of elements-that is to say, the locking yIO element of the end door and the actuator operatively connected with said member and arranged for manipulationonly at the side doorway of the car after the side door has been opened--comprehends a complete embodiment of the invention in its .broadest asl pect; but I prefer to provide individual locking mechanism for the actuator, so that the latter will be retained even after the side door is opened,unless the attendant purposely effects its release. I therefore provide in the side doorposts 12 a pair of recesses or sock-v ets 16 and 17 for the reception of a lockingpin 18, which when vin the Lipper socket 16 projects into the path of movement of the freeend of the handle. 15 to prevent the swinging of the handle and the unlocking of the end door until after the pin 18 has been removed. This pin is suspended from a flexible piece or chain 18, and When withdrawn from the upper socket is inserted in the socket 17, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3.

It will now be seen that the side door of the car serves not only to prevent access to the handle of the actuator, but also to the pin provided for the retention of said handle, the equipment of the car with these devices being effected in a manner to prevent interference with the usual manipulation of the main or side doors.

In order that the various elements of the mechanism may be entirely1 removed from access or observation, they may be inclosed within the walls of the car structure and between the inner and outer sheathings or linings thereof; b'ut by preference the parts are mounted in the positions shown. If desired, a slotted casingor housing 19 may be mounted upon the post 5 to inclose and protect the locking device proper, the slot or opening 2O in said casing being provided to permit the withdrawal of the hasp.

From the foregoing it will appear that I have produced a simple, inexpensive, and highly-eiilcient fastening for the end doors of freight-cars or the like designed to be controlled by a movable 4member--as, for instance, a side door located at a distance from the door to which thefastening is applied; but I wish it to be distinctly understood that I do not limit myself to the structural details illustrated and described, nor to the application of my device in -any particular connection, since vit is obvious that it may be made to vrserve various purposes other than the protection of freight-cars and may be organized and arranged in a variety of ways Without departing from the spirit of the invention. I therefore reserve the right to eii'ect such changes, modifications, and variations of the construction and mode of application herein described as may be clearly embraced within the spirit of the invention.

1. The combination with a car having side and end doors, of a locking device for one door, an actuator for said locking device disposed out of operative relation with the side door, but exposed for actuation at the side doorway, connections extending along the side and end of the car structure and operatively connecting the actuator with the locking device, and a retaining device for the actuator carried by a fixed part of the car structure and accessible through the side doorway when' the side door'is in the open position.

2. The combination With a car having side and end doors, of a locking device for one of said doors, an actuator for the locking device and provided with a handle disposed out of operative relation with the other door, but exposed for actuation at the other doorway, and a retaining devicecarried by a fixed part of the car structure and operatively related to the handle of the actuator.

3. The Y combination with a car provided with side and end doors, of a hasp member carried by one door, a locking member mounted in the adjacent wall of the car, an actuator located upon another wall of the car and extending between the other doorway and the locking member, and retaining means for said actuator, vsaid retaining means being independent of the other door but disposed to have access thereto controlled by said door.

4:. The combination with a car provided with side and end doors, of a hasp member carried by the end door, a keeper disposed for engagement with the hasp member, a lockinglever supported by the car structure for engagement with the hasp member and keeper, and a rock-shaft operatively connected to the locking-lever and provided with a handle disposed adjacent to the side door.

5. The combination with a car having side and end doors and door-posts, of a lockinglever arranged to lock the end door, a rockshaft provided with a crank at one end having connection with the locking-lever and nprovided at its opposite end With a handle located at the side door-post, and a retaining device carried by said post and disposed in the path` of movelnent of the handle.

6. The combination with a car having side and end doors and door-posts,` of a lockinglever arranged to lock the end door, 'a rockshaf-t yprovided Wit-h a crank connected to the locking-lever, and with a handle exposed at the side doorway of the car, and a pin removably mounted in one of the side door-posts and serving as a retaining device for thel handle.

7. The combination with a car provided with side and end doors, of a projection carried by the end door, a locking-lever supported upon the end wall of the car structure for" engagement with the projection, a rock-shaft IOG IIO

extending along one side of the earand operand end doors, of a locking-lever disposed to engage and retain the end door, reactive means for moving the locking-lever to its engaging position, and an actuator operatively connected to the locking-lever and exposed for actuation at the side doorway but out of operative relation with the side door.

In testimony that I claiin the foregoing as my own I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence oftwo Witnesses.

CHARLES R. DOE.

Witnesses:

ELLA SPRAY, A. W. MILLER. 

